EP REVIEW: EMMA HUNTER ‘HERE I GO’
Photo Credit: Carrie Southall
Here I Go explores a shadowy world where the sun doesn’t shine. Like a nightingale singing in the dark, Emma Hunter’s voice unchain elegance and beauty in the void, emerging and evolving with strength, weaving an igniting, floral world.
The EP opens with an intense track about domestic violence with its title track, “Here I Go.” Setting the motion of leaving with no sound. A deeply haunting, blues-infused guitar riff invites you into an emotive, dark world. Sunflowers were shattered in blood; a beautiful woman dancing in a red dress, repeatedly drowned, and abused; the drag of limbs across the floor. “Here I Go” unveils the horrific nature of violence: the brutal destruction of something beautiful.
Further reaching to the muddy street of jazz with surfing guitar and chromatic walking bassline in “Nightingale,” anthemic in the swirling sounds. There is a constant stare that follows you throughout the EP. An eerie, swelling electrified noise emerges from the underworld, gazing at you in the dark like a shadow. Here I Go is astonishing and unsettling in its storytelling. The singer/songwriter has shown immense potential in her vocal performance and songwriting.
“Treacle Well” is a contemporary vocal piece where rhythms and harmonies allure in the dark, weaving into a cinematic, polyphonic modern dance masterpiece. In the immersive, harmonious waves, “Window” comes to life when the reverberant guitar riffs join in for the hypnotic sound bath. Emma Hunter’s voice travels freely, like little fairies dance on the top of branches, landing on places you wouldn’t expect.
Written by Katrina Yang
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